No Hero is respected in his hometown...

On June 28, 2005, US Navy SEAL Danny Dietz and three other Navy SEALs were ambushed by al-Qaeda guerrillas in Afghanistan. Dietz, 25, was severely wounded but fought off the attackers for more than 45 minutes, allowing one of his team members to escape. Dietz subsequently died but his team member lived. For his actions, Dietz received the Navy Cross, the Navy's second-highest medal.

But far from being appreciated and given his due as a hero, Danny Dietz is now at the center of an uproar in his hometown of Littleton, Colorado. According to the Denver Post, plans by the city to place a statue of Dietz in Berry Park are now being protested by a group of parents and other liberals who object to a statue of a soldier so close to neighborhood schools.

They say the statue, depicting Dietz clutching an automatic rifle, glorifies violence. In Berry Park, it would be within blocks of three schools and two playgrounds.

"I don't think young children should be exposed to that in that way - unsupervised by their parents or any adults," said Emily Cassidy, one of the mothers.

The parents have circulated fliers opposing the design and location of the statue at the southeast corner of South Lowell Boulevard and West Berry Avenue, in a triangle formed by Goddard Middle School, Community School for the Gifted and Centennial Elementary School.

They sent a letter to school board members, nearby residents, members of parent-teacher organizations and others to protest "the statue's particular location."

Linda Cuesta, the parent of a child who was at Columbine High School during the deadly April 1999 shootings, said that memory "colors everything in my life."

Dietz's father said the family is devastated by the uproar.

"It broke our hearts," said Dan Dietz, who still lives in the area. "My son was fighting for her freedom to do exactly what she is doing. She put my son in the same category as Columbine. How does she have the audacity to do that?"

There is no way that this hero's father should have to suffer this assault on his son's memory. But Alan Stone unfortunately has it right:

"The people who have never served in the armed forces are always the ones who speak the loudest against what the armed forces have done," said Allan Stone of the Pat Hannon VFW Post No. 4666 in Littleton, which helped raise nearly $42,000 for the sculpture.

Damn straight that. I'm just glad to report that as of this writing, the city is standing fast and not caving in to the screeching of Emily Cassidy and the other unpatriotic Donahues.